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The Revival in In 


By W. B. BOGGS, D.D. 


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W. B. BOGGS, D.D., RAMAPATAM, SOUTH INDIA, AND NATIVE BOY 


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# American Baptist Missionary Union 
: For Foreign Missions 

: BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 

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anna ana anata nanan! 


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psoas, dos iacinasios dos, doa coaos as oa na cnasnasna aac acnasi sana acana cae anaes aaa aa ae sass gate 


OR BOR Bomar moro oremeomme eee AM I Rt OO RO 


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THE REVIVAL IN INDIA 


REMARKABLE revival of religion has taken place in 

India during the last two years. The testimonies are 
so many, and come from such reliable sources, that the 
reality of the movement seems clearly established. Eye- 
witnesses in every part of India, and belonging to every 
Protestant body engaged in missionary effort in that 
land, testify to the great and genuine awakening. Some 
of these are missionaries of long experience and acknowl- 
edged soundness of judgment. Some have written thus: 
“T bless God that he has let me live to see this day; it 
is worth all the rest of my life to see what we are wit- 
nessing now.” No such religious revival as this has ever 
occurred in India before, and it has attracted wide atten- 
tion. 


Antecedents of the Revival 


In reviewing the years preceding the revival the one 
thing, above all others, to which it is ascribed is prayer. 
In 1897 the burden of India’s spiritual need pressed so 
heavily upon the hearts of some of God’s servants that 
a call was sent forth inviting those of like mind to join in a 
day of prayer for the awakening of India. This was 
attended by such deep interest and such an increase of 
desire for yet greater blessing that the day of prayer has 
been regularly observed since then. Of the first, which 
was in 1897, a missionary wrote, “That day marks an 
epoch in the history of Christian missions in this land.”’ 
Companies of missionaries also, in various places, agreed 
together to set apart certain times for special prayer for 
India. The great need of revival was more deeply felt 
as the days passed by, and prayer became more intense 


Mor RR Rome me mem mimeo meamomomeemeeremememmememomaokemososososesetotoetetete te 


3 


BooRah Butea somata uote meeemmeemmeommommetumametemameamematamemar emma et 


MoBototototototututetututattotarutumomotusumtotoometetotetummamotetemetotememtatomemeretem 


RERERRE REIE eae e  RE 


Ps 


and direct. And the minds of those who have met on 
the hills, in the annual conventions for the deepening of 
spiritual life, have been focussed more and more every 
year on the great need of revival, and prayer for this 
definite object has occupied a large place in the conven- 
tions. Thus the Indian revival, like every other genuine 
revival, from Pentecost to the present, was born in prayer. 


Origin and Progress of the Revival 


The first distinct appearance of the movement was in 
March, 1905, in a Welsh mission in the Khassia Hills in 
Assam, one of the provinces of India. Suddenly, in vari- 
ous congregations in that mission, the hearts of many 
were deeply moved: conviction of sin, cries for pardon, 
great agony of soul succeeded by surpassing joy, Christ 
crucified the all-absorbing theme, rapturous singing, 
efforts for the salvation of relatives and neighbors, de- 
liverance from the bondage of sin, transformed lives,— 
these things were seen in every place as the Holy Spirit’s 
seal upon the work. for good results and lasting power 
the revival has not been greater in any part of India than 
in the Khassia Hills, where it began. 

In June of the same year (1905), it broke out at Mukti, 
Pundita Ramabai’s great settlement in the Bombay Presi- 
dency, where nearly 2,000 widows and orphan girls and 
rescued women are gathered. This is 1,500 miles from 
Assam, and the people are, in race and language, quite 
distinct. Mukti became one of the chief centers of the 
revival. There were marvelous displays of divine grace. 
Hundreds of the girls have entered into a new spiritual 
life and are bringing forth the true fruits of the Spirit. 
Many from different parts of India have visited Mukti to 
see for themselves the wondrous things that have been 
taking place there: the great assemblies swayed by the 


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Spirit’s power like the trees of the forest in a gale; the 
whole nights of prayer; the rapid growth in the knowl- 
edge and experience of God’s grace and the work of the 
praying and preaching bands. - 

Afterwards the revival appeared in various places, from 
the Punjab in the far northwest to Tinnevelly in the 
extreme south. It cannot, however, in any sense be 
called a general revival, since there are wide ranges of 
country, and many mission stations and thousands 
of villages as yet untouched; but it may be said that in 
all the principal Protestant missions in India some station 
or congregation or school has been visited by the revival. 
It has not been confined particularly to any denomination 
or missionary society, the British, the American, and the 
Kuropean missions all having some share in it. It has 
been experienced in a greater or lesser degree at several 
stations in our own mission, at Atmakur, Podili, Ongole 
and Kurnool, but perhaps most conspicuously at Nellore. 
In some places the movement has been deep, and its 
results very marked; in others there have been slight 
“stirs.” But in many places throughout the land, in 
thousands of hearts and lives a work has been wrought 
the effects of which will last forever. 


8 ROR OK HK KR HR RH HB RHR R RR RRR BRK BKK BWV VB 


Prominent Marks of the Revival 


There has been no human leader; neither missionary, nor 
native pastor, nor evangelist has been particularly promi- 
nent. God has made it very manifest that he is leading, 
and the missionaries have taken their place with their 
fellow Christians of India as seekers for the fulness of the 
blessing of cleansed hearts and consecrated lives. Thus 
the revival has exalted the Lord and not man. 

It has come suddenly. Almost all reports speak of 
this. In a moment it comes upon a congregation like a 


Bosotato io sot tatoo RUROINI OO LOG 


Roo ooo oI RIN IN TR RT TN TR RS 


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PR moto orotot teat sors tbo OPO SO SSO SO SO SOO SOO SOR ONO USO SOO E 


5 


Mothotathatotosatototiatsatiatutatotsottottotk toto toteotouasor oto ototototuto onc to ota tatutei tatoos 


aan asna ana nga gana ange ana a aca a Sanat aaa acs sea ans ea oases Sessa ses Seasoases do, sates do doade, doa to1 de, dado. doe don des deste. desdons 


Pe sea ceases aaanainas 


meteor’s flash. Mr. Stanton of the American Baptist 
Mission at Kurnool writes: ‘““Suddenly one of the men 
arose and with tears and groans began to confess his sins. 
In a moment the whole audience was bowed upon the 
floor, weeping and wailing over their sins. It seemed as 
if they were all smitten, as it were in a moment, by the 
Holy Ghost, and convicted of sin. As I sat and looked 
over the scene I could think of nothing but the slain on 
a battlefield.” Thus suddenly has it fallen, as if from 
above, on nearly every place where it has appeared. 

It has been confined almost exclusively to Christians. 
In a few places the churches have been so fully renewed 
and filled with life that the heathen around have felt the 
power of the truth, and in some cases large numbers have 
been converted and added to the churches. In the 
Khassia Hills there have been between 7,000 and 8,000 
conversions from among the heathen in the last two 
years. But still, as already said, for the most part the 
revival has been confined to professed Christians. It is 
thus evident that the great divine purpose of the work 
is the cleansing and quickening of the Church. The 
hearts of many have long been sorely pressed by the need 
of this cleansing: the set time has now come. 

The most notable feature of the revival is conviction of 
sin. ‘This has been the first thing in every place where 
the revival has come in power: intense, often overwhelm- 
ing conviction of sin, as if a two-edged sword had pierced 
the hearts of the penitent ones. Sin is discovered to them 
in its enormity by the Spirit’s search-light, and the sight 
and the consequent sense of guilt and condemnation are 
unendurable. Their hearts must break unless relief 
comes. And thus the revival has commenced in many 
places with heartrending cries, each one wailing for his 


and her own sins. Some have remained all night pros- 


trate on the ground, weeping and groaning in agony of 


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6 


BoBotototototota tt tetra tutemet tototoomomotome mmo momomotos BAA AN A RR RO YO OS OG ROG RIO 


Bok Boto motor tora tooo oto ot soro or OO ONO SOOO SOO UU OO OR OUR tomomomome momma tom 


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spirit, and calling on God for mercy. Some have eaten 
nothing for three days, their bitterness of soul taking 
away all desire for food. 

The sins which burn their hearts and from which they 
cry for deliverance and cleansing include everything in 
the decalogue, and many others. Envy, malice, quarrel- 
ing and backbiting occupy a large place, while dishonesty 
and transgressions of the seventh commandment are 
frightfully common. I know that some will wonder at 
this and be disposed to exclaim, what an appalling con- 
dition this reveals in the Indian churches! Admitted; 
but if a revival like that should go through the churches 
of any land, whether oriental or occidental, the sharp 
plowshare of conviction tearing open and laying bare the 
lurking places of polluted things, would not the revela- 
tions be startling and terrible? While we deeply deplore 
the condition thus revealed among Indian Christians, we 
rejoice exceedingly that this revival is making such 
thorough work, and that its great triumph is its cleansing 
power. 

The confessions are spontaneous. There has been no 
urging in this direction. In some cases the missionaries 
at first have not approved of such public confession and 
have sought to check it, but it was of no use. Those 
under conviction have in some cases exclaimed, ‘‘I shall 
die if I do not confess!’’ And in some instances complete 
relief cannot be found until it is all out. The heart that 
is really and deeply sin-stricken must throw off its burden 
or break. 

In every revival scene in India those under conviction 
have found relief only in view of the Cross. ‘Christ 
crucified”’ is still the power of God unto salvation. In 
him they find forgiveness and cleansing and peace; and 
thus all their experiences cluster around Christ, and his 
atoning blood is the keynote of their songs. With what 
fulness of gratitude they shout the praise of Him who 


PR Rototho a botiore odio mo OOS Oa cco OOO SC SO SOO SOTO SOP OPO OPO ORO 


7 


SGPT RLS NR ont 


BoBoRo mete moat oi Om SO oo SOT oO oP oT sot eo oc sooo mat a atototototutte suttotetutotattottutottotot 


otototo tooo oso xa ORO IO Om OO OO ue Moet ooutotn Potctoetotaeem 


died for them and rose again! The “Love Song”’ of the 
Welsh revival finds its counterpart in Telugu and Tamil, 
in Mahrathi and Hindustani: 


Here is love vast as the ocean; 
Loving kindness as the flood; 

When the Prince of Life, our ransom, 
Shed for us his precious blood. 


Manifestations 


Certain outward manifestations, such as visions and 
trances, have been reported from various places. These 
may be regarded as incidents or accompaniments of the 
revival. Such things, more or less marked, have gener- 
ally attended great religious awakenings. In Scotland 
in the seventeenth century; in America in the various 
great revivals from the time of Jonathan Edwards to that 
of Elder Knapp; in the north of Ireland in ‘the year of 
grace’? (1859), abnormal phenomena, both mental and 
physical, occurred. With the prophecy of Joel before us 
ought we not to expect such accompaniments? ‘ Your 
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men 
shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” 

Simultaneous prayer has been an accompaniment, 
probably in every place where the revival has come in 
power. This phenomenon occurs when the tidal wave 
of desire for God becomes so high and irresistible that it 
overflows all its banks. The people cannot restrain them- 
selves or be restrained. Their pent-up feelings must find 
utterance. ‘Their desire for pardon, or reconciliation with 
God, or victory over sin, or spiritual fulness, or the con- 
version of others, just bursts forth, and each one prays 
and pleads and intercedes as if he or she were alone with 
God. The contagion of religious feeling is well known. 
Our ideas of decorum are rather disturbed at first, but 
when we see the intense soul thirst, the wrestling and the 


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unquestionable evidences of sincerity, we look on with 
wonder and reverence, and find our own hearts crying 
out for the living God. And then we humbly confess 
that the Holy Spirit’s ways with men may include a good 
deal outside our own experiences and ideas. Simul- 
taneous praying will probably not continue as a perma- 
nent custom in the churches: it is an extraordinary 
accompaniment of revival when the spirit of prayer is 
mightily poured out upon a congregation, especially 
among people unaccustomed to restrain their intense 
impulses. 

As to speaking with tongues, there seems to be reliable 
testimony that in a few cases during this revival, persons 
while in an exalted spiritual state have spoken in lan- 
guages which they had never learned and which they 
could not use under ordinary circumstances. But inas- 
much as some are in danger of making too much of this 
‘“‘sion,’’ while to others it may be a stumbling block, the 
prevailing feeling among us would be to leave it with 
God, assured that he will guide his people aright in this 
matter. If this manifestation is from him, he will con- 
firm it and use it for his glory; if it is not of God, it will 
not last. While giving no place whatever to manifestly 
spurious manifestations we must be ready to acknowl- 
edge whatever is evidently wrought by the Holy Spirit, 
and if God shall see fit to restore again the gifts bestowed 
on the early church it is ours to recognize them and 
rejoice. 


The Real Fruits of the Revival 


The features described above are but the accompani- 
ments of revival; the permanent results are the true 
testimony to the genuineness of the work. 

The revival being so specially marked by conviction of 
sin and intense desire to be freed from its bondage and 


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9 


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7 


work 


Re tototosotosototasotototatet tutes te tot teotbeteothute tot hateasotatutit se tomutotommmo sa aaR aN 


Moet ott Pe teu oie tee ae Pu Re PORN MN OR REE RHE HERE BES ASO IA AEGON 


stain, we might expect that the first and greatest result 
would be transformed lives. And such is the fact. In 
numberless cases it has proved true that 


He breaks the power of cancelled sin; 
He sets the prisoner free: 

His blood can make the foulest clean; 
His blood availed for me. 


Through deep repentance, with groans and tears, the sin- 
burdened ones are brought into liberty; and the lives of 
many have been greatly changed. Reparation as far as 
possible has been made in many cases. Old debts long 
given up have been voluntarily acknowledged and paid; 
misappropriated money taken years ago has been re- 
stored, in some cases four-fold; long-standing estrange- 
ments have been healed; unlawful living together has been 
made as nearly right as is now possible by marriage; long- 
neglected Christian duties have been resumed; the study 
of God’s word and prayer have become a daily delight. 

Other results are new spiritual gijts. Timid girls, 
taught of the Spirit, with radiant, upturned faces, as if 
looking directly into heaven, give utterance to such 
prayers as we have never before heard from Telugu lips: 
such adoration, such glowing rapture, such grateful love 
responding to fathomless divine love, such appreciation 
of this great salvation, such intercession for others! As 
we look and listen we feel sure that such prayer as that 
is given by God alone; it was never learned from books 
nor from the prayers of others; it is the breath of God. 
The preachers who have really shared in the revival have 
a new message now: the same gospel, but O, how new! 
They have been lifted out of the ruts of stereotyped ex- 
pressions and dull ways. Perfunctory service has been 
left behind; the unction from above has come upon them, 
and their words have a new power, both among Christians 
and heathen. 


10 


SEEN Sse ascasna na asiacna nasa sna tina east acha naseachacbasbacea cases cos bacbaihssbashatea tes seute cease eens sorseade cos baseechs sea saceeeee oer aeree oP oe eee 


Bote tonetitatietiotetotetietatietatiatn tatiana eto ts tN et tS 


encores 


Another important and exceedingly gratifying result is 
a real advance in sedj-support. A missionary writing quite 
recently on ‘‘The Aftermath of the Revival,” reports that 
in his field, as a direct result of the revival, the churches 
have undertaken the entire support of their pastors, men 
chosen by themselves; and the pastors have willingly 
given up their dependence on the mission treasury, and 
will henceforth put their trust more fully in God and look 
to their brethren for support. How great a change this 
is can be fully appreciated by those only who have long 
worked at this very difficult problem. Its solution lies 
in the spiritual life that true revival brings, ‘‘Thy people 
shall be willing in the day of thy power.” 

And of this revival it may be said, ‘‘The time of the 
singing of birds is come.” Christian song has found 
unwonted expression. Hitherto the Telugu singing has 
not been considered particularly sweet or joyous; but the 
revival has tuned their harps and set the chords a-ringing. 
What outbursts of song! what hallelujah choruses! How 
they now love to sing! We are constantly surprised at 
the new hymns that they have suddenly acquired with the 
English and American tunes. Tens of thousands in India 
are praising Christ today in songs from the heart. The 
music of the heart gives unwonted sweetness to the voice. 

In many places praying and preaching bands have been 
formed, and these go out daily into the streets and lanes 
of the towns and villages bearing the gospel message. 
Their manifest earnestness and sincerity give them access 
to the people. [From this work good fruit may be ex- 
pected. 


Lessons and Inferences 


1. By this revival in India it seems very plain that 
God is cleansing his churches there and filling them with 
life and power in preparation for a mighty work. ‘That 


aan aaa Tata a aaa Tat asta na asta Taste tat ata asa Tat sta aa ease eae” 


11 


eo motototioreotorsotorot ator sote OPO OO Ur oO oor SO oor ote ere oe eo puto utara te Boot rtoatextoot te 


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work we have no doubt is the evangelization of the hun- 
dred millions in India as yet unreached by the gospel. 
This great work seems to be devolving more and more 
upon the Christians of India, and God is training and 
equipping them for it. 

2. By this revival God is setting his seal wpon foreign 
missions. He is owning and blessing the work, and 
summoning his people to yet greater things. What 
opportunities it opens to us in the development of the 
churches, the training of workers, the instruction of the 
multitudes of young people and the production of Chris- 
tian literature! : 

3. The revival is also a loud call for prayer: that the 
awakening may be greatly extended; that it may reach 
the many places in India yet untouched by it; that where 
the revival tide has receded it may return with increased 
power and rise higher than before; that all missionaries 
and Indian Christians may be brought under its blessed 
influence and filled with life from above; that it may roll 
on and on, flooding the Indian churches with light and 
love, with holiness and power, from the Himalayas to 
Ceylon and from shore to shore. 

May not the prayer that has been offered by thousands 
of the Lord’s servants in India during the last few years 
be a fitting one for us all to take up and employ daily: 
“Oh Lord, send a revival, and begin im me.’’ 


672-1 Ed.-5m—November, 1907 Price three cents 


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ssos sos ses nscoscnsenscnanoatvatnasoasnsstsStoatoateatateadeates tes ses natn tes teacrasbasbaseasb aie asb a babe e Perera ana tana nana nage ns nna et aaa a tet eres 


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MRK K RRR RRR RRR soot Beto tatate ete oat 


